MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL - Hodags win in OT to cap big comeback; Raiders split weekend

MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL

Every time the Medford Raiders seemingly had their Great Northern Conference girls basketball opener won Tuesday night, Rhinelander’s star sophomore Aubryn Clark said otherwise and almost single-handedly led the host Hodags to a stunning 63-58 overtime win.

Medford led by 21 late in the first half, by 20 very early in the second half and a Toryn Rau steal and score put the Raiders up by seven with 45 seconds left in regulation.

But the Raiders missed just enough free throws and close shots after halftime to keep hope alive for Rhinelander and Clark scored 36 of her school-record 43 points after halftime, including a clutch, stepback 3-pointer that tied the game at 53-53 with six seconds left in regulation. Clark scored six more points in overtime, including four straight free throws to ice it in the last 16.7 seconds, and got help with key baskets from Vivian Lamers and Dawsyn Barkus as Rhinelander improved to 4-1 overall.

The disappointing loss dropped Medford to 2-3 with Lakeland, the state’s sixth-ranked team in Division 2, coming to Raider Hall on Friday for the team’s only home game of the first seven weeks of the regular season.

Another sophomore standout, Taylor Klingbeil, had a huge game for Medford with her second 26-point outing of the season and Raider sophomore Kayla Baumgartner added 13 points.

Both teams got off to slow starts, but Medford kicked things into gear midway through the first period and got into, arguably, their best stretch of basketball in the young season. While holding Clark in check defensively, the offense took off getting a handful of baskets off turnovers or in transition as well as two 3-pointers from Klingbeil and one from Rylee Hraby. The Raiders went from a 6-6 tie to a 32-11 lead before Rhinelander got what wound up being five huge points in the last 30 seconds of the half on a Clark 3 and a steal by Lamers.

The good play continued for the first five minutes of the second half. Klingbeil banked in a 3 to start it. Rau and Aliyah Pilgrim each made a free throw for a 37-18 lead and Klingbeil’s score answered a Barkus 3 to put Medford up 39-22 with 14:52 to play. After two-plus minutes of scoreless basketball, Clark scored two quick baskets for the Hodags and, at that point, she took off.

After a Rau 3 put Medford up 42-28 with 10:42 to go, Clark drilled back-toback 3s and then got fouled on her next attempt. She made all three free throws to cut Medford’s lead to 42-37. She scored seven straight points to pull the Hodags within 48-46 with 4:16 left. Neither team scored for two minutes, but Hraby’s 3 ended that drought. Ninety seconds after that, Rau’s steal gave Medford a threescore cushion.

But a foul put Clark on the free throw line with 36.6 ticks left and she sank both. Medford turned the ball over on the inbound pass and Lexi Beran’s rebound basket, her only points of the game, made it 53-50. Missed free throws gave Rhinelander the chance to tie it and Clark did just that.

Baumgartner started the four-minute overtime with a score, but that would be Medford’s last lead. Clark’s steal and score put the Hodags up 57-55 with 1:50 left. After a Hraby free throw, Barkus got a big hoop for the Hodags. Baumgartner pulled Medford within 59-58 with 1:02 left and the Raiders got the ball back but missed the go-ahead shot from close range and Clark sealed it from the line.

Rau scored nine points for Medford, Hraby added seven, Laney Hraby hit two first-half free throws and Pilgrim had a point.

Barkus had seven for the Hodags. Lakeland comes into Medford Friday at 3-1 overall. The T-Birds, led by Green Bay recruit Kristina Ouimette, escaped a 4542 thriller with Mosinee Tuesday in their GNC opener. They are 3-1 overall.

Regis 66, Medford 37

On Saturday, Medford closed a two-day excursion to the Tom Kislow Memorial Tournament in Rhinelander with a 66-37 loss to Division 4 power Eau Claire Regis.

Strong defense was key to Medford winning its first game of the tournament Friday and that defensive effort continued for the most part against the Ramblers. Unfortunately, the Raiders just didn’t shoot well enough to stay in the game.

“Yesterday, our half-court defense was lights out and today, everybody was rotating. We were playing really well defensively,” Medford head coach Chad Fronk said. “We didn’t shoot very well at all and still it was a 12-point game at halftime. I was like, ‘if we can just hit some shots we’ll be fine.’ It’s not like we were taking bad shots. They were good looks.”

Fronk said he warned the team this game would be played at a much different speed than Friday’s win over Three Lakes-Phelps was. The Ramblers jumped ahead 14-3 and 24-6, highlighted by some baskets off battles they won for loose balls and some transition scores.

Medford closed the gap with an 8-2 spurt to end the half with all eight points scored by Klingbeil to get within 26-14. Klingbeil’s score to open the second half got Medford within 10. Regis went on a little 7-3 spurt to counter a Rylee Hraby 3pointer. Klingbeil missed a shot off a steal, but Baumgartner got the rebound and scored to make it 33-21. However, Regis slowly but surely widened the lead from that point on, taking advantage of foul trouble with Medford’s guards. The Ramblers’ standout sophomore guard EllyMay Cooper controlled play on the offensive end for her team by scoring and distributing. They finished with three players in double figures led by Carly Borst’s 22 points and 14 rebounds and Cooper’s 21 points, six steals and four rebounds. Izzy Reichert scored 13 points and had six rebounds and five assists.

Baumgartner led Medford with 14 points and nine rebounds and she had eight blocked shots, most of which came in the first half when the Raiders’ half-court defense was quite good. Klingbeil had 12 points, three steals and two blocked shots.

Pilgrim hit two 3s to finish with six points. Rylee Hraby scored three and Rau added a basket.

Raiders 59, Blue Jays 15

On day one of the Kislow tournament, Medford had no trouble with Three Lakes-Phelps easing to a 59-15 win.

Medford had 22 steals and scored 34 points off 33 Blue Jay turnovers. The Raiders scored the game’s first 12 points and built a 30-10 lead by halftime. Medford hit eight 3-point shots while Three Lakes-Phelps missed all seven of its tries, giving the Raiders at 24-point advantage. The Blue Jays did not make a field goal in the second half, going zero for 10. They were five for 35 overall.

Pilgrim hit two of Medford’s 3s in the first half. Rylee Hraby and Klingbeil each hit one to open the second half. Klingbeil scored twice off assists from Baumgartner and Jolie Steliga, Pilgrim scored off a steal, she got another steal and missed, but Steliga was there to clean it up with a hoop and harm. Rylee Hraby hit another 3, Baumgartner got a steal and score, Laura Wegerer sank two free throws and Kiley Anderson drilled a 3 in a 19-0 run that really put the game away, making it 57-13.

Klingbeil had 13 points and five rebounds in the win, while Rylee Hraby finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. She sank three 3-point shots. Baumgartner had 11 points, four rebounds and two steals. Pilgrim had eight points, seven steals and three assists. Steliga and Anderson scored five points each. Steliga had three assists. Rau hit a first-half 3-pointer and added six steals and three assists. Wegerer had two points and four rebounds. Laney Hraby had four boards and two steals.

Medford’s Taylor Klingbeil sprint dribbles toward an easy scoring opportunity during the first half of Saturday’s 66-37 loss to Eau Claire Regis. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS